Items tagged with ASRock

They're not quite the odd couple, but truth be told, we wouldn't have figured ASRock and Creative for BFFs. That's exactly what they've become, however, with the release of the Game Blaster sound card for gamers. Not just any ordinary sound card, mind you, but according to ASRock, it's the first one to combine Creative's 7.1 channel HD Sound Core3D Audio technology with a Broadcom Gigabit LAN port, the latter of which supports the "teaming" function, which lets gamers combine two GbE LAN ports for double the bandwidth. It's a PCI Express x1 card with a 102 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for its...Read more...

ASRock recently posted a pair of pictures on its Facebook page that are sure to appeal to Transformers fans. One is of an X79 Optimus Prime motherboard and the other is themed after Bumblebee, also based Intel's X79 chipset. As far as we can tell, these are concept shots and not actual boards, though if they are real, there's a good chance both will be unveiled at CES in Las Vegas next month. ASRock didn't provide any specs for these boards, but other than the Transormers-themed makeover, they look identical to ASRock's X79 Extreme9. We're guessing the company's design team was just having a little...Read more...

Multiple motherboard manufacturers are warning that precipitously rising HDD prices will impact their sales. Gigabyte has issued guidance that it now expects Q4 shipments to fall by 20 -25 percent, while Asustek predicts a much smaller decline of ~five percent. Analysts believe Asus is underestimating the impact of the price increases, and think the company's sales could fall as much as ten percent. This would be in line with guidance from MSI, ECS, and Asrock. Exposure to the shortage will vary depending on the degree to which a manufacturer relies on retail sales and the price points of their...Read more...

Until Intel's next-gen, high-end Sandy Bridge-E and its companion X79 chipset launches sometime this quarter, Sandy Bridge-based family of second generation Core processors and the Z68 Express chipset remain Intel’s premiere desktop platform. It is with that in mind that we've just taken a look at several different motherboard offerings from manufacturers that cover a range of form factors, feature sets, and price points. If you’re on the market for a Z68 board for a new build, odds are one of the products in this round-up will meet your needs... Z68 Motherboard Roundup: ASUS, EVGA,...Read more...

With AMD’s FX-Series process due to arrive sometime in the not too distant future, we thought it was a good time to check out a few high-end 990FX-based motherboards. We want to give you prospective AMD buyers a glimpse at some ‘boards designed with the FX-Series in mind. The ASUS CrossHair V Formula, ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional, and Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7 we'll be looking at here all offer official support for upcoming 8-Core AMD FX-Series processors and a whole lot more... AMD 990FX Motherboard Round-Up: Asus, ASRock, Gigabyte...Read more...

In preparation for the impending arrival of its Bulldozer-based FX-series of processors, AMD recently released their 9-Series chipsets. The AMD 9-Series currently consists of three products, the 970, the 990X, and the flagship 990FX chipsets. At their core, all of the current AMD 9-Series chipsets are similar, and offer support for socket AM3 and AM3+ processors, DDR3 memory, PCIe 2.0 (with a varying number of lanes), and SATA III (6Gb/s). The chipsets differ in their support for AMD CrossFireX technology, however, due to a different number of PCI Express lanes available on each. The...Read more...

There may not be a ‘one size fits all’ HTPC, but there are some HTPC features that are universally (well, almost universally) desired. For one, it’s our opinion that an HTPC should be as quiet as possible. It should also be capable of any multimedia related task, it should be easy to install and use and it should look like it belongs in its environment. Even with those guidelines in mind, an HTPC can be many things. But we think one OEM, namely ASRock, has struck a great balance between performance, form factor, and features with one of their HTPC lines and have come up with a...Read more...

Although Home Theater PCs have been around for quite some time, they are still somewhat tough to define. For some, the term HTPC conjures up images of an ultra small form factor, low-power system that will be used for nothing more than accessing multimedia files. But for others an HTPC is more akin to a hardcore piece of A/V and entertainment equipment that can do it all—play back virtually any file type, browse the web, play games at 1080p resolutions—you name it. The muddled state of the HTPC market is compounded further by OEMs and DIYers as well. Pre-Built home theater PCs are as...Read more...

AS PCstats.com reports, $75 can certainly buy a decent Socket AM2 motherboard. Though Nvidia's nForce 590 SLI has more features, VIA's K8T890 is able to keep up performance wise, which makes it a viable gaming solution. "In this review of the ASrock AM2V890-VSTA motherboard we'll be looking at how the VIA K8T890 handles itself around the socket AM2 Athlon64 FX-62 processor. The ASRock AM2V890-VSTA Socket AM2 motherboard is the first motherboard to cross PCSTATS' test bench based on the VIA K8T890 chipset. This compact ATX motherboard...Read more...

Anandtech has published a review of the ULI-based ASRock 939SLI32-eSATA2 motherboard. With complete SLI x16 support, this budget offering provides surprising performance for an exceptionally low price. For those in the market for a cheap SLI-capable motherboard, this new board from ASRock might actually warrant your attention. Then again, NVIDIA's recent acquisition of ULI might make finding this board more than a bit difficult in the next few months. In the video area, the inclusion of dual PCI Express x16 slots provides x16 SLI capability for...Read more...

Though it's capable of CrossFire support, the ASRock 775XFire-eSATA2 won't be breaking any speed records. Even so, with a price tag of around $80, this motherboard looks to be a great mainstream solution. "ASRock brings another cost/performance motherboard into the market with CrossFire capabilities. The 775XFire-eSATA2 is not the fastest motherboard, nor is it expected to be. However, as far as mainstream goes, a new chipset and CrossFire on the cheap is the right combination."...Read more...

ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 Motherboard @ Tweaktown: Today we've got a brand new motherboard on the chopping block from ASRock, a sub division of ASUS who produce value orientated motherboards. The ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 motherboard is based on ULi's new M1695 chipset and offers many innovative features. It has many features such as PCI Express and AGP support and upgradeability to upcoming AMD processors - it's an upgrader's dream." Thermaltake Swing Series Case @ ThinkComputers.org: "Today for review we have another Pre-mod PC case. This one comes from a company that has become very popular and well...Read more...

Hey folks, we're back! We had a bit of a busy weekend, but the news kept flowing so we're going to have a big post this morning. This hardly seems like news anymore, but the RIAA is at it again, this time going after a group of 757 downloaders. Another lawsuit has also been filed, however this time the RIAA is getting hit with some papers. Anyway, if your looking for some reading that doesn't involve courts, look no further... ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 @ t-break "The ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 has a decent set of features supporting the 939 pin based Athlon64/Dual Core CPUs with dual channel memory controller...Read more...